Culture Shock

         When an individual is exposed to a new culture, they can experience terms called culture shock, ethnocentrism, and culture reality. Culture shock is when an individual is shocked by how different cultures do things differently. Ethnocentrism is when an individual bases and judges things off of their own culture because they think that that is the best way since they have been raised that way. Culture relativity is when an individual tries to relate what they know about that culture and use that to figure out what it means. For example, a danish woman, who left her baby in a stroller outside of a restaurant in New York while eating, had her child taken away from her. In Denmark, it is culturally normal to leave children outside to get fresh air and rest. Is this a question of culture? That is what the main controversy followed. Personally, when I get older, I want to try an experience of teaching in Japan. We talked about Japanese culture very much in class, and for years I have always been interested in their culture. The main thing I love that would probably still give me culture shock when I first visit is the way they treat their elders. In American culture, elderly people are treated the same, if not lower than average aged citizens because they are considered slow. In Japan, the elders are treated with the utmost respect. People who are younger need to bow to their elders and talk to them in a respectful matter. There are also many other cultural differences that could have me experience culture shock, but I want to expose myself to such differences so I can grow and a mindful person.